Famous endurance ride faces the axe

It’s not been a great month for endurance. First the FEI suspended theUnited Arab Emiratesfrom the sport and now the UK’s founding race is facing the axe.

Birth of endurance

The 100-mile Golden Horseshoe Ride is considered by many to be the event which saw the birth of endurance in this country.

Now in its 50th year, organiser Barbara Wigley and her committee of helpers arecalling it a day.

“It consumes your life and we have really been defeated by rising costs, lack of sponsorship and health and safety demands,” Barbara told H&C.

Ultimate test

According to Barbara the entries have also dropped over the years. The first ride in 1965 was so popular entries closed a month early, when they reached the 110 limit.

“Exmoor is seen as the ultimate test of a horse’s fitness,” she said. “Perhaps that hasn’t helped our cause. Nowadays not many people have the time to get horse’s fit enough to compete over this terrain.”

“On top of that, the sport is now so popular it offers many more rides all over the country than it did, say, even ten years ago and people will obviously choose a closer option.”

‘Tragic’

Endurance GB (EGB) is reported to be considering reverting to the original forma , which saw the ride move around the country. It was in 1974 that Exmoor became the permanent venue.

“But it still needs an organiser, together with the school of thought that the Horseshoe over anywhere but Exmoor is not really the same,” Barbara said.

The ride was founded by Colonel Mike Ansell and poet Ronald Duncan – who wrote The Horse which is read out each year at the Horse of the Year Show.

“It is tragic really,” she says. “Until they came up with this idea, the only real test of equine fitness was hunting and the then new sport of eventing.”

Range of rides

This year’s ride will again be based just outside Exford, Somerset. It is also hosting the EGB National Championship (100 miles) and Young Rider Championship (50 miles).

Alongside the 100 mile race, which takes place over two days, there are a number of other shorter distances, including a 15-mile sponsored ride.

More information can be found on the Golden Horseshoe’s website.